For the family members of sick children, it’s important to have a peaceful environment to retreat to, away from the noise and stress of the hospital ward. The Sick Children’s Trust recently committed to creating such an environment for the occupants of Scott House, a ‘Home from Home’ for families whose children are being cared for onsite at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne. They did this by choosing Icopal’s Monarfloor Tranquilt for its acoustic floating floor system.

Tranquilt is a lightweight acoustic isolation system for Floating Screeds and specified within Robust Details E-FC-11. The sub contractor, EDS Floors had proposed this system to complement its own ‘Alphaflow’ flowing screed, as they can equal or give a better performance when used together, compared to other acoustic systems on the market. As Tranquilt is a lot lighter than the rubber matting, there is an added Health and Safety benefit as it puts less strain on the installers.

With superior dynamic stiffness and acoustic isolation, using Tranquilt reduces impact and flanking sound transmission within pre-cast and in-situ concrete separating party floors by forming an isolation layer between the sub-floor and the finished screed. By combining Tranquilt with EDS Floors’ Alphaflow screed, the floor is ready to be worked upon within 24 hours, saving main contractor, Brims Construction, valuable time and money.

The system was therefore ideal for The Sick Children’s Trust, as it delivered sound-proofing of the floors and is a shock absorbing surface, too. For Scott House, this ability is particularly important for the families of their young patients, as they need plenty of sleep and rest whilst their loved ones are looked after on the Children’s Heart Unit. It also ensures the large, open plan areas are a comfortable and calm space that can also help lower blood pressure and overall stress levels, giving families more time to focus on supporting their children being cared for at the hospital.

Paul Hester of EDS Flooring, together with the EDS design team, commented on the experience of working with Icopal’s products, saying, “Over the years, we have used a variety of acoustic systems available on the market, but since using Tranquilt for Scott House, as well as a number of other projects, we can offer a better solution in combination with our screed. For example, one of the main benefits we have found when using Tranquilt is the ease of handling and installation. Because the system is lightweight we can fast track installation, saving on building programme and offering an overall cost saving.”